"The members of the Security Council expressed serious
concern about the growing number of casualties. The members of
the Security Council called for an immediate cessation of
hostilities," Rwandan UN Ambassador Eugene Gasana told
journalists after an emergency meeting on Sunday.

Jordan demanded the meeting after over 60 Palestinians and 13
Israeli soldiers were killed as Israel shelled Gaza's Shejaia
neighborhood and battled militants in the bloodiest fighting in
the 13-day offensive, Reuters reported.

"The members of the Security Council called for respect of
international humanitarian law including protection of
civilians," Gasana added.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the killings as an
"atrocious action" and called for an immediate end to
the fighting, urging Israel to “exercise maximum
restraint.”

“Too many innocent people are dying (and) living in constant
fear,” he said at news conference in Doha.

Also on Sunday, US President Barack Obama called for an
“immediate ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.

“The situation is intolerable,” Fatah leader Mahmoud
Abbas said earlier in a televised speech from the Qatari capital,
Doha.

“What the occupation forces did today in Shejaia is a crime
against humanity,” Abbas said. “Those who committed it
will not go unpunished.”

As the IDF continues the operation in Gaza, Abbas arrived in
Qatar on Sunday to discuss a potential ceasefire with Hamas
leader Khaled Meshaal and the UN chief.

WARNING: Graphic video of the shelling aftermath
in Shejaia

Israel claims that its forces killed at least 10 Palestinian
militants who, the IDF say, entered the south of the country from
Gaza to carry out an attack.

"A short while ago two terror squads were detected
infiltrating through two tunnels from the northern Gaza Strip
into Israel," a military spokeswoman told Reuters.

Palestinian health officials said the death toll since July 8 had
reached 447, including many civilians, with 12 more bodies
recovered from the embattled Shejaia neighborhood where the
number of fatalities rose to 72 from Sunday's fighting.

“The Israeli aggression against civilians should be
stopped,” said al-Shifa’s hospital administrator.

AFP puts the death toll at 476.

As Israel heavily shelled Gaza's eastern suburb of Shejaia
battling the alleged Hamas militants in the bloodiest fighting in
the 13-day offensive, officials said 35,000 people fled the
fighting in Gaza on Sunday as the artillery bombardment began.

The ambulances and fire trucks moved in to Shejaia at 10:30 GMT
after the announcement of a two-hour truce to retrieve the dead
and wounded.

Inside the shelled neighborhoods, scores of people lay dead,
others were wounded with scenes of entire buildings destroyed.
Houses were still ablaze from the IDF onslaught, with corpses
burnt almost beyond recognition, with the dead numbering both
young and old, including small children.

But in a few hours, the shelling resumed as the IDF announced
Hamas had breached the truce and it was responding
“accordingly.”

The injured from Shejaia were rushed to Gaza City's central Shifa
Hospital. Chaos reigned inside the hospital as wounded children
were brought to the overflowing emergency room, forcing the
medical staff to treat the wounded in a hallway. Those who could
still walk fled to some of the 61 UN shelters with more than
81,000 people from all over Gaza strip taking sanctuary in them,
the refugee agency said.

"Shejaia was particularly badly affected with thousands of
people reportedly fleeing their homes this morning, as heavy
bombardment from Israeli tanks and artillery continued,"
United Nations Relief and Works Agency said in a statement.

As the Palestinian death toll soared to 438, a spokesman for the
Gaza emergency services said more than a third of the victims
were women and children.

“We are carrying out a complex, deep, intensive activity
inside the Gaza Strip and there is world support for this... very
strong support,” he said ahead of a security cabinet
meeting.

Shejaia lies next to the separation barrier between Israel and
Gaza, east of Gaza City. Because of its geographical location to
the buffer zone, the Israeli army claims that Shejaia is
responsible for 8 percent of the rockets launched from Gaza.